Concerns over secret permits still valid

Published: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at 03:36 PM.

The Times-News expressed cogent concerns about removing gun permits from the public eye on May 13. Last year’s nationwide push to make them secret was a knee-jerk reaction to one New York newspaper’s poor decision to publish permit holders’ information.

Our process in North Carolina gives a great deal of authority to a single elected official in each county, the sheriff, in determining who will or will not receive pistol purchase and concealed carry permits. One of the functions of keeping these records transparent is to ensure that our local sheriffs are properly screening those who have lost the right to purchase firearms, such as convicted felons and domestic abusers. Similarly, by being able to inspect the records it allows the public to have confidence that permits are appropriately revoked when necessary.

In 2011, The New York Times examined records of all North Carolina’s concealed carry permittees over a five-year period. The newspaper found that 200 permit holders were convicted of a felony during that time, and in roughly half of those cases the sheriffs failed to revoke the concealed carry permits.

Unfortunately that type of review is no longer possible in North Carolina. The Times-News concerns about HB17 came to pass during the 2013 session when HB 937 was passed into law. HB937 made significant changes to many aspects of gun ownership in our state, including the secrecy provisions that were initially proposed in HB17. As of Oct. 1, 2013, records related to pistol purchase and concealed carry permits are no longer subject to the N.C. Public Records Law.

The Times-News expressed cogent concerns about removing gun permits from the public eye on May 13. Last year’s nationwide push to make them secret was a knee-jerk reaction to one New York newspaper’s poor decision to publish permit holders’ information.

Our process in North Carolina gives a great deal of authority to a single elected official in each county, the sheriff, in determining who will or will not receive pistol purchase and concealed carry permits. One of the functions of keeping these records transparent is to ensure that our local sheriffs are properly screening those who have lost the right to purchase firearms, such as convicted felons and domestic abusers. Similarly, by being able to inspect the records it allows the public to have confidence that permits are appropriately revoked when necessary.

In 2011, The New York Times examined records of all North Carolina’s concealed carry permittees over a five-year period. The newspaper found that 200 permit holders were convicted of a felony during that time, and in roughly half of those cases the sheriffs failed to revoke the concealed carry permits.

Unfortunately that type of review is no longer possible in North Carolina. The Times-News concerns about HB17 came to pass during the 2013 session when HB 937 was passed into law. HB937 made significant changes to many aspects of gun ownership in our state, including the secrecy provisions that were initially proposed in HB17. As of Oct. 1, 2013, records related to pistol purchase and concealed carry permits are no longer subject to the N.C. Public Records Law.